Digital Readiness in Buildings: Why the Starting Point Depends on Who You Ask

What You’ll Learn in This Blog

This fireside chat recap breaks down the most actionable insights from London PropTech 2025 on how buildings progress toward digital readiness. You will learn:

• How different building stakeholders define digital readiness

• Why no universal starting point exists for smart-building transformation

• Why brownfield buildings represent the biggest opportunity and challenge

• How poor data quality limits smart-building performance

• How smart-building ROI extends far beyond energy savings

• What future-ready, flexible building architectures require

• Why cybersecurity sits at the center of digital-enablement strategy

• How to apply a practical three-step framework to begin any digital-readiness journey

Inside the Fireside Chat: Digital Readiness and Building Enablement

London PropTech 2025 brought together global innovators, technologists, and workplace leaders to explore how digital solutions are reshaping real estate. PropTech refers to the digital tools that modernise how buildings are designed, operated, and experienced.

Among the event’s most practical sessions was the fireside chat “Digital Readiness and Building Enablement,” hosted by Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions and guided by Jon Cook, Business Development Manager. The panel included industry experts representing commissioning, consulting, integration, and building automation:

• Arthur Blom, Business Development Manager, Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions (Northern Europe)

• Ray Durso, Head of Smart Buildings, TClarke (UK)

• Ryan Elliott, Head of Digital Advisory, Hoare Lea (UK)

• Nariman Fakhraee, Business Area Manager Proptech, Malthe Winje Automasjon AS (Norway)

Their discussion focused on a practical question many owners, operators, and developers are now asking:

Where does a building begin its digital readiness journey when the goal is improved performance or evolution toward smart-building capability?

The conversation produced four different answers shaped by the realities of each expert’s role. This diversity of viewpoints revealed that no building begins in the same place, and no stakeholder shares the same definition of readiness.

How Different Building Stakeholders Shape Digital-Readiness Priorities

Each panelist approached digital readiness from a different operational lens:

• Consulting and advisory teams prioritise defining outcomes and use cases before selecting technology.

• Commissioning and operations teams emphasise clean, accurate, trustworthy data as the foundation.

• Systems integrators focus on connectivity, interoperability, and infrastructure.

• Building automation and retrofit specialists highlight renovation cycles as the most practical moment to digitize.

These perspectives did not conflict but reflected the complexity of real-world portfolios where strategy, operations, and lifecycle management often require different starting points. A single universal first step does not exist. The right starting point always depends on the building’s context and the stakeholder’s mission.

Why Alignment Matters More Than Choosing a Single Digital-Readiness Starting Point

Although the panelists preferred different pathways, their insights converged on a consistent truth about data:

·       Strategy without supporting data and infrastructure cannot deliver outcomes.

·       Infrastructure without reliable data cannot create meaningful value.

·       Data without a clear purpose has limited impact.

Smart-building success does not depend on selecting one ideal first step. The differentiator emerges when strategy, infrastructure, and data begin reinforcing each other. Alignment forms the foundation of digital readiness, regardless of where the journey begins.

This focus on alignment led naturally into a deeper discussion about the existing building stock that dominates today’s real estate landscape.

Why Brownfield Buildings Lead the Digital-Transformation Challenge

A critical insight surfaced early in the conversation. Most buildings that will still be in service in 2050 already exist today. Digital transformation therefore depends heavily on brownfield portfolios rather than new developments.

This reality reshapes readiness planning:

• Improvements can follow an incremental path instead of requiring major disruption.

• Energy renovation cycles often create the strongest opportunity for digitization.

• Older buildings can support smart-building potential once data, systems, and infrastructure are modernised with intention.

Digital readiness becomes an exercise in elevating what already exists. Smart-building capability evolves over time, especially in environments constructed long before modern technologies were available.

Why Poor Data Quality Still Limits Smart-Building Performance

Advances in platforms, application programming interfaces (APIs), and communication protocols have not solved one persistent industry challenge: poor data quality. 

Poor data undermines smart-building performance at every level. You cannot automate, analyse, or optimise inaccurate, incomplete, or poorly structured data.

Common data-quality issues include:

• Middleware cannot fix mislabeled points.

• Analytics cannot interpret missing or inconsistent asset information.

• Dashboards cannot overcome unverified or unreliable inputs.

Data quality across asset records, point naming, metadata, and commissioning remains one of the largest barriers to effective digital transformation. Trustworthy data is essential for any strategy to deliver measurable results.

 

How Smart-Building ROI Extends Beyond Energy Savings

Energy efficiency often dominates conversations, but the panel underscored a wider range of returns:

• Reduced operational and maintenance costs

• Extended equipment lifespan

• Faster space turnover and improved workplace flexibility

• Improved tenant experience

• Higher leasing competitiveness

• Access to sustainability-linked financing

• Lower insurance risk

Digital capability is increasingly recognised as a competitive advantage. A digitally enabled building performs well but also competes effectively for tenants and long-term value. This discussion set the stage for what future-ready buildings require.

Why Future-Ready Buildings Depend on Flexible, Open Architectures

Digital readiness delivers sustained value only when a building can adapt continuously. Modern facilities experience ongoing shifts in occupancy, operations, regulations, and technology adoption. Flexibility is essential.

A future-ready architecture supports:

• Open, interoperable systems

• Layering of new technologies over time

• Straightforward addition, replacement, or upgrading of systems without major disruption

Future proofing extends far beyond initial deployment. The goal is to protect investments, support continuous improvement, and ensure readiness for evolving market expectations and regulatory pressures. Growing connectivity also increases exposure. This reality positioned cybersecurity as a core pillar of digital enablement.

Why Cybersecurity Must Be a Core Pillar of Digital-Ready Buildings

Expansion into cloud platforms, IP-based networks, and open interfaces increases the attack surface for building systems. Cybersecurity is now essential for every digitally enabled facility, not only data centers or mission-critical environments.

More connectivity introduces more value but also more risk. Digital readiness must include:

• Secure integrations

• Strong access controls

• Network segmentation

• Continuous, proactive monitoring

A building cannot achieve credible smart-building status unless its digital foundation is secure and resilient. This emphasis on practical requirements led the panel to outline a simple, structured framework for beginning the journey.

A Practical Framework for Starting a Building’s Digital-Readiness Journey

To make this discussion practical, the panel outlined a simple progression that any building team can use to move from intention to measurable progress. The following sequence illustrates how digital readiness can begin in any context:

1. Clarify the objective.

   Determine the outcomes that matter most, such as efficiency, comfort, experience, sustainability, compliance, leasing performance, or lifecycle cost.

2. Understand the current state.

   Assess existing systems, data, integrations, and infrastructure. Identify what is functional, what is missing, and what requires improvement.

3. Enable the gap.

   Build the connectivity, data quality, asset information, and platform layers required to meet the objective. This structured approach strengthens alignment across teams and stakeholders.

When objectives, reality, and enablement steps align, digital-readiness progress becomes manageable, measurable, and scalable across any portfolio.

The Bottom Line: Smart-Building Success Depends on Alignment, Not Agreement

Digital readiness does not hinge on identifying a single correct starting point. Buildings vary in age, condition, and constraints, and stakeholders bring different responsibilities, priorities, and desired outcomes. Use cases also shift across energy, operations, comfort, compliance, and leasing goals.

One principle consistently emerged across the panel:

Smart-building success depends on alignment between strategy, data, and infrastructure. When these elements reinforce one another, digital transformation becomes achievable in any context.

A building does not require a flawless first step. A building requires a shared direction. Alignment turns digital ambition into measurable outcomes, supports long-term adaptability, and positions assets to capture meaningful value from every technology that follows.

The fireside chat closed with a clear message: digital readiness evolves through coordination, not consensus. To help teams put these insights into action, the following FAQs address the most common questions raised by owners, operators, and advisors navigating the shift toward smart-building capability.

FAQs: Digital Readiness and Smart-Building Transformation

Why does digital readiness matter now? Growing regulations, rising energy costs, and tenant expectations are increasing the need for digital capability. Readiness strengthens operational efficiency, sustainability performance, and portfolio competitiveness.

Can older buildings become smart buildings? Yes. Most global building stock is brownfield, and incremental upgrades, particularly during energy-renovation cycles—create strong opportunities for smart-building evolution.

What is the biggest barrier to digital readiness? Poor data quality. Without reliable asset information and accurate point naming, even advanced analytics and platforms cannot deliver meaningful or consistent results.

Are smart building returns only about energy savings? No. ROI also includes operational efficiency, extended equipment lifespan, stronger leasing performance, access to sustainability-linked financing, and improved workplace flexibility.

How long does digital readiness take? Digital transformation unfolds in phases. Timelines depend on current systems, data quality, objectives, and the frequency of renovation or investment cycles.

Define the Next Step in Your Digital Readiness

Take the next step toward your own smart-building roadmap. Connect with a smart-building specialist from Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions to discuss your digital-readiness roadmap and next step.